Norwich on board with train study

The City Council on Monday joined the region’s General Assembly delegation in pushing for the state transportation department to fund a study looking at the expansion of rail service into New London County.

The City Council on Monday joined the region’s General Assembly delegation in pushing for the state transportation department to fund a study looking at the expansion of rail service into New London County.

"This is really something we should jump on board with,” Alderman Charlie Jaskiewicz said. “If this study can be conducted, the ITC (Intermodal Transportation Center) could be a potential train station stop.”

Norwich is one of nine communities linked to the Central Corridor Rail Line, a planned 121-mile route from Brattleboro, Vt., to New London that would run across 13 college campuses, including campuses of the universities of Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Stops would also include Mohegan Sun and Norwich’s transportation center.

The venture would cost about $110 million, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation recently agreed to pay for a feasibility study for its leg of the route.

While passenger service is the ultimate goal, officials say heavier rail is needed to accommodate freight travel.

Norwich City Manager Alan Bergren, who attended a July 26 planning session in Mansfield to review details of the plan, said the rail in place is “light-duty,” with a maximum speed of about 20 mph.

“When you increase speed, it becomes more conducive to putting passenger on there,” he said.

City leaders are heartened by recent investments in regional rail infrastructure that they hope means support for the corridor line study.

In May, the New England Central Railroad and Providence & Worcester Railroad split $4.33 million from a new Rail Freight Infrastructure Program to pay for track upgrades, bridge repairs, switch replacements and other improvements on the lines.

The New England Central Railroad was awarded $3.5 million to upgrade its mainline track between New London and the Massachusetts line, allowing it to be used by 286,000-pound railcars. Work will also be done to repair switches, improve the Norwich Tunnel and rehabilitate nine grade crossings.

The Providence and Worcester Railroad has $759,395 to spend on improvements to 26 miles of its Norwich branch line between Plainfield and Massachusetts. New cross ties, spikes and ballast will be installed, and rail speeds on the line will increase.

“The governor’s help in providing millions of dollars for bridges and switches to be upgraded along this line should be an incentive when the next TIGER grant comes up for the rails itself,” Mayor Peter Nystrom said.

Also Monday, the council set a public hearing for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19 to discuss the future of a home at 59 School Street that once belonged to escaped slave James L. Smith. On that same date, Public Works Director Barry Ellison will provide information on a planned $5 million road improvement bond that could appear on November’s ballot.